A flyball of the bat of Mike Yastrzemski leading off the first inning that was caught above the top of the wall was the difference in this ballgame. That and the baserunner ahead of Trevor Larnach's home run in the third inning for the Twins vs Heliot Ramos' solo HR in the 2'nd inning. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos LF- 3 for 3, 2B, HR(6). BA= .268. You had to be feeling hopeful after YtY's near HR in the first inning and Heliot's bomb in the second. Alas, that was all the Giants could muster and Heliot ended up with all but one of the Giants 4 hits. He also got picked off 3B in the 8'th inning by Christian Vasquez C which may or may not have cost the Giants a tie and/or the win.
Logan Webb RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 9 K's, 10/2 GO/AO. ERA= 2.60. Better than the minimum Quality Start with an expected win probability of about 70%. Again, this loss is on the lineup.
The burden falls on Landen Roupp RHP to salvage a win out of the series and .500 for the road trip tomorrow at 11:10 AM PDT against Pablo Lopez RHP who is good pitcher and based on my imperfect recollection has always been extra tough on the Giants.
Twins are a hot team winning 8 home games in a row. Ramos pick off at 3rd base in the 8th inning can't happen in a tight game like that. I'm kinda disappointed they stopped playing Matos again after he started to get hot with the bat its tough on a young player to contribute when their his playing time is sporadic .
ReplyDeleteMy wife is a Twins fan and she has been down on them but I told her last night their lineup is stacked with really good hitters and their pitching is not bad either.
DeleteMost of the offensive performances (except for Wilmer's RBIs ) and woes are as expected...But made worse by the surprising poor performance and inconsistencies of both Chapman (reverting back to pre last year) and Adames. Those guys have to get going. Other than that, internally one can only hope FITZ comes back strong form his injury and ENCARNACION (who played last night) or LUCIANO can give the offense a boost. I think they try that before any external moves....DOn't know where they are going to find a LH 1B/DH type.
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
I have to say, Adames gives off weird vibes. Love the enthusiasm but maybe just a whiff of unearned cockiness? I am no batting coach but to me it looks like he has a lot of loop in his swing. Just when it looked like he was starting to come out of his early season funk, his bat went cold again. Starting to get into disappointment territory as this extends into mid-May. That's a lot of money for a long time too. Can't say a total surprise because there were a few small red flags. Giants were desperate for a shortstop with none on the near horizon Down on the Farm.
DeleteI was conflicted on how I wanted this game to go. Joe Ryan was my daughter's classmate in the town where I live. In fact she played on the same team as Joe when she wasn't old enough to play girl's softball, but the boy's league was open to her. Joe Ryan is great guy and I root for him to continue a successful career. Once he was lifted, of course I was hoping for another comeback. Good news is the Giant's held a tough Twins lineup to 3 runs (only 2 Er). Go Giants today!
ReplyDeleteMy wife grew up in Sioux Falls, SD which is Twins territory so she is a Twins fan.
DeleteMy wife was born in Aberdeen, SD, came to CA at 11 yo. They make good wives! And mothers. ;<)
DeleteBarring anything unforeseen > looks like pitching from top to bottom good to very good, and folks in the minors jockeying for first call up. That said > Buster/Bob love the stability in the lineup. Gotta first base > a real bat is required. Maybe an experienced second base > and our outfield bats need to go to Barry Bonds batting school > not sure what Pat Burrell is actually bringing to the players, but it aint working,,
ReplyDeleteDare I say it > even Aaron Rowand would walk into a pitch or 2 to get on base. No real small ball being player given an old school Manager
Richard in Winnipeg
Richard in Winnipeg
I haven't looked at the numbers but it's my sense that pitching is dominant around the league, almost to 1968 levels. Having said that the Giants lineup is in a bad funk right now and it's hard to see how they get out of it. Adames in particular needs to step up. To me it looks like he has a lot of loop in his swing. Maybe time for him to go to the video room?
DeleteOn changes to the strike zone, from Fangraphs, see link at the end:
Delete"Over the offseason, a new labor agreement included a change to the way that umpires are assessed by the league. The grading got much tighter, reducing the buffer around the edges of the strike zone from two inches on the outside of the zone to three-quarters of an inch on either side. The strike zone is the same, but umpires are being judged much more tightly."
The umpires have "been much better at judging pitches outside the strike zone and much worse at judging pitches inside the strike zone. In other words, they’ve been calling a lot more balls. That’ll make (the umpires) more accurate because, naturally, players tend to swing at more pitches in the zone and take more pitches outside it.
"The zone rate really doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the called strike rate, especially this year. This is why pitchers and catchers have been telling The Athletic that the strike zone is shrinking. Yes, accuracy has improved, but it’s improved very much in the batter’s favor. Not only that, but the Giants were even more specific with their complaints, telling the San Francisco Chronicle that the high strike in particular has been disappearing.
"Umpires have been steadily getting better on the sides of the plate, and that improvement has generally come on pitches outside the strike zone. They’ve been getting better at identifying balls, but this season, for the first time, that improvement has really come at the expense of their accuracy inside the zone. They’re still more accurate overall, but they’re missing more strikes than they used to.
"Over the years, the bottom of the strike zone has gotten significantly lower, and catchers around the league have adopted one-knee down stances in order to earn more called strikes down there. From 2009 to 2020, the height of the average called strike at the bottom of the zone dropped by 1.92 inches. However, ever since, that average has been ticking back up. This season, it’s 0.6 inches higher than it was in 2020. Still, so far this season, the effect hasn’t been as drastic as it is on the edges of the plate, where umpires have actually gotten worse at identifying strikes."
The article goes on to say the top of the zone has changed also, "On the sides and at the bottom of the zone, it’s clear that things have tightened up... But the top is a completely different story. If anything, it’s more spread out... Umpires have been less consistent up there. They’re calling both lower and higher strikes at the top of the zone."
"The zone has definitely shrunk, and all the catchers and pitchers arguing that they’re losing strikes have a real point."
Although Fangraphs has a paywall, sometimes you can read an article gratis. If you get through this, and understand it, well, it contradicts what we seem to think.
Davy Andrews article: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/strike-zone-update-part-2-how-the-zone-has-tightened/
Giants' scores by game (40 games, 24-16):
ReplyDeleteThey are 16-0 when they score 5 or more runs.
They are 8-16 when they score 4 or less.
3-5 when they score 4.
5-3 when they score 3.
0-8 when they score less than 3 runs (half were shutouts)
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/2025-schedule-scores.shtml
Update: They are 16-1 when they score 5 or more runs.
DeleteWhat a disappointment today's game was!
Roupp, Doval, Birdsong, and Rogers walk nobody, Walker and Miller walk 2 and the Giants lose by one.
Pathetic.
Giants need a real closer. They might have to convert one of the youngins
DeleteThere is a fine line between being patient and stubborn, although hate to pin blame for a loss on a reliever who loses it in extra-innings.
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